Outer suburbs deprived of as much as $250m in basic services

Royce Millar, Ben Schneiders & Clay Lucas

Residents of Melbourne's outer suburbs are being deprived of as much as $250 million a year in basic services such as mental health, disability and physiotherapy as population growth adds record numbers to the city's sprawling fringe.

A confidential report, based on sensitive state government data and obtained by The Sunday Age, underscores the relentless population pressure on services, and the failure of the governments to keep pace through adequate funding.

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It comes just days after new census data revealed Victoria grew by 146,600 or 2.4 per cent in 2016, a rate much higher than the Andrews government had forecast, or planned for.

The findings highlight Melbourne's growth pains as it lurches from a smallish regional to a large global city of 8 million by mid-century, based on government projections. If the growth rate for 2016 were to continue, Melbourne's population would be more like 10 million in 2050.

Melbourne's population is growing at a faster than expected rate. Photo: Paul Rovere

Compiled by consultants with access to unpublished government data, the leaked report highlights "significant gaps" in the funding of human services in growth areas, including mental health, family violence, pharmacists, physiotherapists, disability services, occupational therapists and psychologists.

It says the service gap is resulting in "significant waiting times" and residents "forced to travel long distances for appointments or access" for some services.

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The leaked report notes that the $250-million gap applies to a "limited" range of government-funded services measured against service levels Melbourne-wide. If it included big-ticket items such as hospitals, transport and schools the gap figure would be exponentially higher.

On Saturday The Age revealed how population growth was masking an underlying sluggishness in the economy which, per capita, had barely grown since the global financial crisis.

An Age investigation has revealed how the Victorian economy and state budget have come to rely on population growth. Per capita, both the Victorian and Melbourne economies have gone backwards four times in the last eight years.

Urban growth projections produced by researchers from RMIT's Centre for Urban Research in collaboration with the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN). For further information, contact Dr Georgia Garrard, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University.

In an interview with The Sunday Age, Planning Minister Richard Wynne said he was "absolutely" confident that detailed planning for new suburbs ensured human services were provided for.

But as booming population presses the city ever outwards concern is mounting about communities being as disconnected from jobs as schools, transport and human services.

"People's lives are at stake," said Casey mayor Sam Aziz. "The toll taken on families from the grind of daily commuting alone, and the time lost with families, is immense.

"We need to do the planning and we need to spend the money on infrastructure. Otherwise we're leading people into a state of dysfunction."

The confidential report was commissioned by a group of 10 growth area councils known as the Interface Council group, including Casey, Whittlesea, Hume, Melton and Wyndham.

A consulting firm was given access to confidential Department of Health & Human Services data under strict conditions.

Lynette Buoy is the chief executive officer at family services provider Windermere, in Casey in Melbourne's southeast. Casey suffers in particular from lack of local employment, poor transport and high levels of domestic violence.

Ms Buoy said governments and the community were working together to deliver services in a "timely way".

"But we're behind the eight ball with such growth. The population growth and the demands in our areas are phenomenal," she said. "Communities are growing at such a rate that the funding hasn't been able to keep up."

Council to Homeless persons chief executive Jenny Smith said there was a pressing need for more human services in growth areas, not just roads and housing.

"There's far too great a focus on the actual buildings, the physical infrastructure dimension of the development, and very little focus on a healthy community."

Ms Smith said the same was true of homeless services, which tend to be concentrated in inner-urban areas. "Right across the state we have housing supply problems for people on the lowest incomes."

The Andrews government has acknowledged the pressure on outer Melbourne, including through the creation in May of a suburban development portfolio held by Lily D'Ambrosio.

"As Melbourne continues to grow, all residents must have affordable and reliable access to jobs, services and infrastructure, no matter where they live," she said at the time.